DayosofPal—Palestinian activist and educator Odeh Muhammad Hadalin was shot and killed by an Israeli settler on Monday evening in the village of Umm al-Khair, located in Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank, according to local officials and eyewitnesses.
Hadalin, known for his nonviolent resistance and for assisting in the production of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was standing outside a community center when a settler fired at him, hitting him in the chest.
He died at the scene. The Palestinian Ministry of Education confirmed his death, labeling it as another instance of ongoing settler violence in the region.
Basel Adra, a Palestinian co-director of the documentary, paid tribute to Hadalin in an emotional post, writing, “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening… This is how the Israeli occupation erases us , one life at a time.”
Adra’s co-director, Yuval Abraham, described Hadalin as a “remarkable activist” and shared footage of the attack. He identified the shooter as Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler previously sanctioned by the EU and the U.S. for violent actions against Palestinians.
Israeli authorities acknowledged an “incident near Carmel,” an illegal settlement bordering Umm al-Khair, and confirmed the death of a Palestinian.
Police claimed they were still determining Hadalin’s role in the incident. Four Palestinians and two foreign nationals who were present were also arrested.
Hadalin’s killing occurs amid a dramatic increase in settler assaults across the occupied West Bank. On the same day, Israeli rights group B’Tselem released a report accusing Israel of committing genocide in both Gaza and the West Bank.
The report documented a spike in settler violence—ranging from arson and looting to home invasions and armed attacks—often supported or ignored by Israeli occupation.
Masafer Yatta, where Hadalin lived, is a rural area made up of several Palestinian hamlets. Residents have long resisted displacement after the Israeli occupation declared the region a military training zone.
Their ongoing struggle was captured in No Other Land, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary earlier this year.
Hadalin’s death adds to a growing toll in the West Bank, where over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in October 2023.
In a separate incident later that night, 27-year-old Mohammad Samer Suleiman al-Jamal was shot by Israeli forces at a checkpoint at Hebron’s northern entrance. According to Wafa, soldiers barred paramedics from reaching him, causing him to bleed to death.
The ongoing wave of violence, coupled with famine, displacement, and devastation in Gaza, has prompted widespread condemnation from human rights organizations. Still, international pressure has so far failed to curb the bloodshed or hold the Israeli occupation accountable.
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